Thoughts and comments by John Sumsion about life and software.Alma 34:38 Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

27 September 2011

Keeping a Beginner's Mind

As an experienced software developer, I care deeply about retaining my ability to remain flexible in my habits and learning style. That's the only way I got good, and if I ossify in my learning habits, I'll end up the equivalent of a COBOL programmer. Certainly not the way to live up to the broad possibilities that exist to make the world a better place.

I appreciated the wider perspective that I got from glancing through these slides by Patrick Kua:

Although I had seen and skimmed Pragmatic Thinking & Learning, this presentation was a gentle and useful introduction to the whole idea of the Dreyfus model of skill aquisition.

Another very useful idea that this presentation expressed was the contrast between "skill-acquiring apprentice" vs. "closed-minded expert". Patrick said that the "skill-acquiring" attribute can also apply to highly-skilled practitioners.

Among the tips Patrick gave, the following were useful to me:

You can't be an expert on everything. [so don't even try]

How can I try this safely?

How does this fit in my world?

Remain curious.

Mix with diverse groups.

Beware of built-in biases.

Avoid judging early.

The reason I decided to compare/contrast some of the ideas in this presentation was actually because of my forays into the Pragmatic Thinking & Learning book, which was one of three "Further Resources" offered at the end.

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Disclosure: I am employed by FamilySearch. The views expressed here are the opinions of John Sumsion and do not necessarily reflect the views of FamilySearch or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.